New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-09-09
AN AMERICAN SURGEON.
a.1r A CENTURY OF PROFESSIONAL LIFE.

AN AM IAe4A<AA~ ~ - ~
HALF A CENTURY OF PROFESSIONAL LIFE.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SAMUEL GROSS. NJ d.. Etc.
with skstcsss Of his Contemporaries; Ed , AaS
ps,,. sSss T George ssG Barrie RI
Tho late DR.. Gross occupied q somowaat pecuiiar
position in tho profession Of which no was 90 long
an ornameat Accident. personal sttracnveness,
and abilities Of rare type trained by incessant
study, all combined to make him one OF tho most
conspiouou, Of American practitioners. 1t was his
fortune to begin his career at time whom the
science Of medicine in this country was 90 vet
hardly developed, aud IL WAS his merit that nc
became q pioneer in the advance from emuiricism
and routine to tho systematic study of principles.
He says: When entered tho profession lin 1881
it was oversprsad with q mantle of darkness ~
IL true great progress had been made IN e'ory
direction but theories, conjectures ana uncer's,n
tee were the characteristics OF the day. har"'y
anything was definitely settled. Physioioey anu
pathology were conjoctural branches oil the nearhg
art. Chami.trv was IN q rudmentary, transitional
state. Uvueine and state medicine had no OK
istsnce. Toxicoogy and medical jnrsprudenc
were occult arts. Surgery and medicine were the
msyes. arts without any scientific associations or
concessions. Midwifery and gynecology were IN
a crudo condition. Disease was by many regarded.
not 40 an alteration of function. or perverson OF
health, but as sort of undesirable entity engraft-
oil upon the system, from which 1t was necessary
to expel it. often with violent remedies moro in-
furious to the patient than the malay itself.
Therapeutics, indeed, has been more labOred than
advanced Very little was certainly known
respecting the action OF medicines upon the sys-
tenn. The textbooks were of an inferior order ana
medical literature had made little progress Some
of the schools were wretched. professor 10 the
Medical department of Transylvania University
used to talk of "post-morieu, EXAMINATIONS a'tcr
death" and another member of the same learned
facultv cnt open o woman for ovarian 'umor and
closed the woun with an oath hen he found that
the supposed tunor was baby Physicians fees
were very low. At Easton, where DR.. Gross prac-
tised in his youth, a visit in town was so cents,
and oui-of-to~u from 81 toS2, according to dis
tance Tho doctor furnished and put up the edi'
cines The charge for consultations was 70 Tor the
first and 81 for each subsequent visit. bicod'ng
in the suring and autumn to purify the Dloou
WAS a com mon practice, and the patient ala not
think that he cot the worth of his money unless ho
lost from sixteen to twenty-four ounces Al Cin-
cinpati where Dr. Gross established himself after
leaving EastOn the charges were also iniseraoiy
low tho fec for ordinary visit being 81 and that
for o consultation S.. At Louisville, where he
spent sixteen years. the services of physician
were better appreciated. Even before quitting
Cincinnati, however. Dr. Gross had begun to earn
largo professional income, and during the rest
of his life he was prosperous For twenty-eiyht
years he was Que of tho best known and most
respected psrsoaagss in Philadelphia; and there
lie die in 1884.
He did much to advance the standards OF his
profession in several distinct departments which
few physicians have ever satisfactorily combined.
He was most successful medical practitioner,
bold safe, original, ingenious and brilliant sur
Ceon, q distinguished teacher and a voluminous
and instructive writer. Some Of his contributions
TO medical and surgical literature. based rpon per
sonal research and experiment IN totally new
fields, have received the highest encomiums both
at homo and abroad, and recognized as author-
ties not likely to be soon supplanted Perhaps We
ought not to expect man to tell us his especial
merits, but Dr. Grosss INGENIOUS account OF his
methods as an instructor aud AN author We seem to
read bis secret. That was thoroughness He would
not rest until be had gone to the bottom of every
study that ae took up, and he would not accept
rules Until he had mastered tho principles 1pon
which they rested When he wrote bis Elements
Of Pathological Anatomy" IA work which virchow
made The occasion of remarkable public compli-
ment to him at Berlin in 1885, he preixed to the
description of the morbid anatomy Of svery organ
in the body an account of it's healthy color,
weight SIZE and Conscience, founded upon origina
oDsei vati0p, a plan until then unknown 10 such
works." and IN involving enormous labor and care
In the latter OF mis- life bis adherence 10 blood
letting and few other practices sometimes
brought upon him the reputation OF utrs-con.
sew atism; but this is reproach which the
younger men ara too az to cast at the veterans.
Professor Aus;iu Flint, iu his brief predatory
memoir, printed with the Autobiography" MAN.
tains that in spite OF the tenacity With which ne
clang to como old opinions. DIR. Gross was always
at heart "desirous for progress in medcal
knowledge and improvements in its practical ap-
plioat on" That. when You come to wsigh the
sentence, seems not much to say. Better testimony
to DR.. Gross Upennsss of mind is found in many
of the comments of the autob oZraphy. The en-
thusiastic terms in which the writer speaks of the
inn0v ations introduced by Dr. Jacob Bigelow GER
tainly do not indicate profound respect for the
heroic old school, BigeIow was educated at the
medical department of the University of Pennsyl-
vania. where two extreme practitioners Of that
schoo! were his teachers-Physick. who used to
bleed his patients tn the point of exhaustion. and
Rush, who often sail to his students; We can
have no reliance on Nature. gentlemen. We must
tlrn her ont of doors In practice and substitute
for her efficient art" DR.. Biaeiow reversed al
doctrine was that many if not most diseases,
especially the eruptive, arc sefli.ntei; that their
natural tendency 10 tn spontaneous cure; and
that, while the system is struggling under their
effects. very little aid is required from the ply
sican, save what relates to food, drink and
bvg,enc reg ilat,ons. While not discaring medi-
cines or drugs altogether. he confoel himself to
the mildest and most simple renedie', such as are
calculated to aid and not to thwart, Nature In her
efforts at restoration" The tract In which Dr..
Bigelow embodied thess views Dr. Gross calls
ono of the most val fable contributions ever
made to medic.l science"
Dr. Gross reDels with Indignation charge that he
was fond of using the knife. He had great
tempt for the mere mechanical operator, a1d he
insisted that only man of fine feelings could be
o good snrgeou. ~ have often lam awake tor
hours the night before an important operation, and
suffered great mental distress for DAYS after it
al, hat -